Senate campaign receives support from Samo students

Some students intern at homeless shelters, others intern at pet rescues, but Samo student Ruhi Bhalla (’14), are both interning for school board member Ben Allen’s campaign for state senate. They have been performing important tasks such as brainstorming and phone banking in efforts to improve Allen’s chance of election.According to Genevieve Cruise, the volunteer coordinator with the Ben Allen Campaign, the involvement of all kinds of students in the campaign is encouraged. Currently, Allen has gathered interns from high school, college and graduate school.“It’s a great opportunity [for students] to get involved in [their communities], have first hand experience in the political process and gain working experience,” Cruise said.In addition to phone banking and brainstorming, interns are responsible for scheduling appointments, passing out flyers and attending events, according to Bhalla.“I’ve been interning for about two months now and have worked on a variety of tasks,” Bhalla said. “I work directly under Ben Allen, the campaign manager and the volunteer coordinator.”The internship is time-consuming, according to Bhalla. She spends at least four days a week at the campaign office and headquarters.“The internship is what I put into it,” Bhalla said. “I love getting hands-on experience in politics and grassroots organizing, so I don’t mind devoting a lot of my time to the campaign.”Bhalla earned the internship due to her participation in the Samo community.“Through my community involvement, I met Ben Allen, who was an avid supporter of the work I did at [Samo],” Bhalla said. “I genuinely believe Ben Allen will do a fantastic job as a State Senator and wanted to show my support for him. I asked him if I could volunteer or intern and that’s how I ended up getting the internship.”osherman@thesamohi.com